Hamas War

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Leaders Don't Follow Polls, But I Pray for a Vote of Common Sense

A number of years ago I was "amused" at the response of an American  politician who when asked what his policy was responded:
"I'm waiting to see the polls."

Steven Senne / AP
That's pretty much what United States President Barack Hussein Obama is now saying about his war with Syrian Bashar Assad over the unacceptable use of chemical weapons.

After Obama's bombastic verbal pledges to attack the Syrian regime for their dastardly acts, he has pretty much painted himself into a corner when his expected international allies pulled away from the idea.  It's not that anyone in their right moral mind is in favor of chemical weapons, but very few people can really see anything effective or suitable in attacking Syria.

I'm far from being a pacifist, but I don't see what good an American led attack would do for the world or the Syrians.  It's like raping a whore.  Just because she (or he) is a prostitute, even a low-priced one, doesn't justify rape.  The Assad The Second regime in Syria is a terrible dictatorship, but there is no opposition that will be better for the Syrians. It's like a gang war. No matter what the gang is called, it's still a bunch of immoral, criminal hoodlums.

One thing that may make a bit of difference would be to declare and uphold diplomatic and economic sanctions against Syria. 
  • Expel all of their diplomats.
  • Have the United Nations expel them
  • Stop all forms of aid.
  • Declare sanctions, and stop supporting all NGO's that give aid to Syria.
  • Isolate them diplomatically.
The only thing that an American led attack would do, no matter how small or large, would be to unite the Syrians behind Assad, because he'd easily show them that they have a common enemy.  That would strengthen Assad, not weaken him. 

Davka in this case, I sincerely hope that Obama's war talk be voted down. The United States and the rest of the world would be a lot safer if Obama would get himself more competent advisors. I just hope that Congress and the British Parliament strongly defeat their bills to start a war in Syria.

4 comments:

goyisherebbe said...

I am sure that there would be unintended consequences. I don't know what they would all be, but I suspect bad. The US should do something about Iran instead.

Batya said...

goyish, the only thing Obama has the guts to hit is a golf ball. Forget about Iran; it's not in his sights...

NormanF said...

Israel has been doing more for Syrian Arab civilians than the entire Western World.

There are sanctions that could be imposed upon the Assad regime that would send it a strong message of the West's resolve to curb the genocidal war its waging upon its own population.

They should be taken in concert with military measures to strip the regime of its weapons of mass destruction.

Its easy to lose sight of what's really happening in Syria. Its Guernica writ hundreds of times over. And no body is stirred to demand an end to the slaughter - of men, women and children.

And when I think of how the West is too paralyzed to act in the face of a humanitarian catastrophe, we know that its talk of standing beside Israel will remain only that - talk.

When it comes to Iran, Israel will have to defend itself! And while Batya makes good points here, let's remember who the Assad's regime staunch patron is - Iran - the same country that would use nuclear weapons in a heartbeat to wipe the Jewish State off the map.

We have been duly warned.

Batya said...

Norman, yes, but will an American (Obama)led attack on Syria be good or bad for us and world peace?
That's the bottom line for me. Let him play golf and stay away from the "red button."